Machine for cleaning cartridge primer pockets



J. E. BRlSBlN 2,977,618

MACHINE FOR CLEANING CARTRIDGE PRIMER POCKETS A ril 4, 1961 Filed April11, 1960 I illlH IN V EN TOR.

,47TQRNEYS FOR CLEANING CARGE) PRIMER PocKErs John E, Brisbin, 4055Perryville. Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.

Filed Apr-( 11, 1960, Ser. No. 21,547

7 Claims. (Cl; 15-1041) This invention relates to the cleaning of primerpockets in cartridge shells that are to be reloaded, and moreparticularly to a machine designed for that purpose.

It is common'practice forlpeople who do a lot of shooting to reload thecartridge shells that they have. used. In order to do'that, the spentprimer first has to be pushed out of the primer pocket in the base ofthe shell and then the pocket must be cleaned before a new primer can befitted into it, The usual way of cleaning the pocket is to use a; smallbrush designed for that purpose but which has not been verysatisfactory, or to make or buy a metal blade that can be inserted inthe pocket and rotated to scrape its'walls clean. Such practices notonly require a considerable amount of time, but in the case of the blademetal is scraped from the side wall of the pocket so that the pocketsoon becomes oversize and incapable of holding a primer.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide apparatus forcleaning cartridge pockets, which is an elec-. trically operatedmachine, which operates automatically every time a cartridge shell'isinserted in the mechanism,

which cleans primer pockets very rapidly, which does not wear-away thewalls of the pockets appreciably, and which permits a large number ofshells to be cleaned in a very short time with practically no manualeffort.

In accordance with this invention, an electric motor is.

operatively connected with the inner end of a primer pocket brush forrotating the brush. A sleeve encircles the brush and is.v spaced fromit. Slidable axially in the sleeve for a limited; distance is acartridge guide that has j a longitudinal passage through it. Thepassage contains the outer endof the brush, with the outer end of thepas: sage terminating in a socket, The socket is of a size for receivingthe, base of a cartridge shell having a primer pocket of substantiallythe same diameter as. the outer end of the passage. A spring normallyholds the guide in-its outer position in the sleeve, with the outer end.of

the brush adjacent the outer end of the guidepassage. The? guide can bepushed inwardlyof the sleeve by a shell inserted in the socket, wherebyto move the socket back.

around the outer end portion of the brush and thus fit the cartridgeprimer pocket over the brush. Mean-s re-.'-

. that of the pocket.

sponsive to the inwardly moving guide will close a nor-.. 7

mally open switch. connected. with the motor, whereby in theaccompanying drawings, in'which Fig. l is a plan view of my machinewithout a cover; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front end view; F 3 s. ver cal onitudinalsect n; and

Pie. l a-fra mentary venta1. lon itu in l section.

showing the parts of the machine in operative position.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, a vertical front plate 1is secured at its bottom in any suitable manner to the front end of arectangular base 2, which may be provided with feet 3 for supporting iton a bench or table. Also mounted on the base are side walls 4. Ifdesired, a cover (not, shown) may be used to complete the enclosure.Rigidly mounted on the base some distance behind the $the brush will berotated in theprimer' pocketto. clean it.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated ice front plateis an electric motor 6 provided with a drive shaft 7 that extendsforward toward the plate. The motor can be electrically connected to anyhousehold electrical outlet. The operation of the motor is controlled byan electric switch 8 supported in front of it above the motor shaft by abracket 9 secured to the front plate. The switch is normally, open, butcan be closed by a project ing push button 11 that is urged forward by aspring (not shown) inside the switch. Rigidly mounted on the motor shaftis a tubular member 12, in the front end of which the inner end of apack of brush bristles 13 is secured.

The bristles are made of'wire that extend forward and preferably throughthe center of a circular opening 14 in the front plate 1. Rigidlymounted'in the plate opening is a cylindrical sleeve 16 that has ashoulder 17 engaging the front of the plate. Directly behind the platethe sleeve is provided with a circumferential groove 18, in which a snapring 19 is mounted for holding the sleeve tightly in place.

Slidable axially inside sleeve 16 is a cartridge guide 21 that isretained in the sleeve by a set screw 22 threaded in the wall of thesleeve and projecting into a longitudinal groove 23 in the outside ofthe guide. The screw and groove limit the distance that the guide canslide back and forth in the sleeve. The guide is provided with an axialpassage 24 extending forward from its inner end and terminating shortof. its outer end in a socket 25 of a size that will more or lessvsnugly receive the base of a cartridge sheel that is to be cleaned. Thebrush extends.

most of the way through the passage when the guide is in its forwardposition shown in Fig. 3. The front end: of the passage is cylindrical,but the rest of it may flare to.-

ward the inner end of the guide to facilitate" insertion of the brush,which 'will flare forward unless it is compressedradially by the wall ofthe passage. The cartridge guide. 21 normally is held in its outerposition in sleeve 16 by means of a spring, which preferably is a leafspring 27. secured to the top of switch 8. and extending down acrosspush button 11 and into engagement with the inner end of the guide abovethe brush.

. When, as shown in Fig. 4., the base of an empty cart. ridge shell 28is inserted in'guide socket 25. and pushed, guide 21 will be pushedinward against the resistance of;

spring 27. As. the spring is flexed, it will push. against but.-

ton 24 and close the switch, which will start the motor. At.

the same time, the, outer end of, guide: passage 24will.

move back behind the outer end of the brush, so the-.prirm.

er pocket 29 of the shell will slip over andfit around the projectingend of thebrush in the socket becausethe diameter of the outer end ofthe passage is about the, samegas; Due to the fact that the end of'the.brush projecting into socket 25 will tend to expand: orflare out, therotating brush will rub against the side wallof the; primer pocket aswell as its end wall and. thereby thoroughly clean the pocket. As soonas the cartridge shell is;

pulled away from guide 21, spring 27 will move the guide,-

forward to the. position shown in Fig. 3 and allow: the. switch toopenand stop the motor. The bottom of'the guide and the underlyingportion of the, sleeve may he. provided with superimposed slots 31 and32 for the. escape of material cleaned from the primer pocket.

I It is desirable toprovldethe front of this machine; with-1 I a stoplug 33 engaging the outer side offrontplate]: and? attached toit: byascrew 34, extending into thefront 611th of the base 2. Normally, thelug is in its upper dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, but it can beswung down, when desired, for engagement with the edge of the table orbench on which the machine is placed. The lug then will prevent themahcine from slipping backward on its support when shells are pushedagainst the cartridge guide.

Shells of different sizes can be cleaned with this machine by retractingset screw 22, removing guide 21 and Fir men Apr. 4, 1 961 substitutinganother one provided with an axial passage and socket that willaccommodate a shell of a different size. This machine will clean primerpockets just about as fast as the empty sheels can be inserted in andremoved from the guide socket, and it will do it without undulywearingaway the side walls of the pockets.

It will be observed that the motor'runs only while a shell is pressingguide 21 against spring 27, and that the motor is started and stoppedautomatically by the movements of the guide. For best results, theswitch and spring are so arranged that the switch will close and thebrush will begin rotating by the time the brush starts to project intothe inwardly moving socket 25. This will facilitate entrance of thebrush into the primer pocket and the entire side Wall of the pocketwill'be exposed to the abrasive action of the very tip of the rotatingbrush as the shell moves back over it and forward away from it.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I

have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated .anddescribed what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However,I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appendedclaims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallyillustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Machine for cleaning cartridge primer pockets, comprising a primerpocket brush having inner and outer ends, an electric motor operativelyconnected with the inner end of the brush for rotating it, a normallyopen electric switch for the motor, a stationary sleeve encircling thebrush and spaced from it, a cartridge guide in the sleeve slidableaxially thereof a limited distance, said guide having a longitudinalpassage through it containing the outer end of the brush and terminatingat its outer end in a socket for receiving the base of a cartridge shellhaving a primer pocket of substantially the same diameter as said outerend of the passage, a spring normally holding the guide in its outerposition in the sleeve with the outer end of the brush adjacent theouter end of said passage, said guide being pushable inwardly of saidsleeve by a cartridge shell inserted in said socket to move the socketback around the outer end portion of the brush and thereby fit thecartridge primer pocket over the brush, and means responsive to theinwardly moving cartridge guide for closing said switch to rotate thebrush.

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which the front end portion ofsaid guide passage is cylindrical and fits snugly around the brush, andthe rest of the passage flares toward the inner end of the guide.

'3. A machine according to claim 1, in which said axial sliding of thecartridge ,guide is limited by removable means in the sleeve projectinginto a longitudinal groove in the guide.

4. Machine for cleaning cartridge primer pockets, comprising a primerpocket brush having inner and outer ends, an electric motor operativelyconnected with the inner end of the brush for rotating it, a normallyopen electric switch for the motor, a stationary sleeve encircling thebrush and spaced from it, a cartridge guide in the sleeve slidableaxially thereof a limited distance, said guide having a longitudinalpassage through it containing the outer end of the brush and terminatingat its outer end in a socket for receiving the base of a cartridge shellhaving a primer pocket of substantially the same diameter as said outerend of the passage, a leaf spring normally holding the guide in itsouter position in the sleeve with the outer end of the brush adjacentthe outer end of said passage, said guide being pushable inwardly ofsaid sleeve by a cartridge shell inserted in said socket to move thesocket back around the outer end portion of the brush and thereby fitthe cartridge primer pocket over the brush, said spring being flexed bysaid inward movement of the guide, a switch push button in a position tobe actuated by the flexed spring for closing said switch to rotate thebrush.

5. Machine for cleaning cartridge primer pockets, comprising asubstantially horizontal primer pocket brush having innerand outer ends,an electric motor operatively connected with the inner end of the brushfor rotating it, a normally open electric switch for the motor, astationary sleeve encircling the brush and spaced from it, a cartridgeguide in the sleeve slidable axially thereof a limited distance, saidguide having a substan- 'tially horizontal longitudinal passage throughit containing the outer end of the brush and terminating at its outerend in a socket for receiving the base of a cartridge shell having aprimer pocket of substantially the same diameter as said outer end ofthe passage, a spring normally holding the guide in its outer positionin the .sleeve with the outer end of the brush adjacent the outer end ofsaid passage, said guide being pushable inwardly of said sleeve by acartridge shell inserted in said socket to move the socket back aroundthe outer end portion of the brush and thereby fit the cartridge primerpocket over the brush, and means actuated by the inwardly movingcartridge guide for closing said switch to rotate the brush for cleaninga primer pocket, the bottom of the socket and sleeve 'being providedwith openings for escape of material cleaned from primer pockets.

6. A machine according to claim 5, including a base supporting saidmotor and sleeve, and a stop depending from the base adjacent the sleevefor engaging a vertical edge of a support to hold the base when acartridge shell is pushed against said guide.

7.' Machine for cleaning cartridge primer pockets, comprising a primerpocket brush having inner and outer ends, an electric motor operativelyconnected with the inner end of the brush for rotating it, a normallyopen .the outer end of the brush and terminating at its outer end ina'socket for receiving the base of a cartridge shell having a primerpocket of substantially the same diameter as said outer end of thepassage, a spring normally holding the guide in its outer position inthe sleeve with the outer end of the brush spaced inwardly from theouter end of said passage, said guide being pushable inwardly of saidsleeve by a cartridge shell inserted in said socket to move the socketand the outer end of the passage back around the outer end portion ofthe brush and thereby fit the cartridge primer pocket over the brush,and means responsive to the inwardly moving cartridge guide for closingsaid switch by the time the inwardly moving outer end of said passage issubstantially flush with the outer end of the brush.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

